Project Brief

South Staffordshire Water contracted us to complete a disconnection on a section of 36” main which was still connected to a closed valve on a decommissioned reservoir at Barr Beacon. The project was an ODI set by OFWAT to South Staffordshire Water and as such had to be completed in a tight timescale to achieve the ODI date.

Challenges and how we overcame them

As the 36” Main is strategic main the water needed to be kept on at all times. To achieve this, it was agreed that a 36” single line stop would be installed and the main would be capped off behind the line stop.

Due to depth of the existing water main and the restricted area we had to work in , a temporary works solution was required to carry out the works safely and efficiently.

Upon excavation of the main the material was found to be 36” Steel rather than ductile as per the original design. The steel was also coated in a rare asbestos coating. At this stage the design needed to be changed, and a fully Welded steel line stop tee was manufactured and installed. Before this could be achieved asbestos coating had to be removed. To do this a specialist contractor was deployed to remove and safely dispose of the coating.

The new design for the fully welded steel tee meant that the size of the required Thrust block could be reduced significantly reducing the footprint of temporary works required.

Outcome to Date

The line stop installation went to plan and the 36” main was successfully disconnected to meet the regulators timescales.